Adjustable car-stake.



RALPH V. SAGE, OF WESTMONT,PENNSYLVANIA.,

ADJUSTABLE CAR-SNAKE.

Specification of. Letters Patent. v

Patented ct. 30, 1906.

Application iiled-Augnst 27,1906. Serial No. 332,109.

.To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, RALPH V. SAGE, a citizen of the United States,residing in the borough of Westmont, in the county of Cambria and Stateof Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Im rovements inAdjustable Car-Stakes; and do hereby declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact d escription of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to'which it appertains to make and use thesame.

My invention consists in general of a carstake which is adapted both forstiffening and supportingthe permanent car sides and for projectingabove same to retain light or bulky lading, such as lumber, bark,structural material, or any other kind of goods which extend above theside of the car.

My invention is particularly adapted for use on what is known as gondolacars, and for the sake of simplicity in description I will confine myillustration and specification to this form, although my improved stakemay be used on other cars.

My invention in general consists of an exterior hollow stake or envelop,which may be made of pressed or rolled metal, fastened to the car-sillor underframing of the car, the car sides in turn being secured to saidhollow stake. Inside of this envelop is arranged an extension-stakecomposed of a rectangular piece of wood or other material, which can beadjusted to any height desired within its limits.

The envelop portion of my stake, as herein illustrated, is substantiallytrough-shaped in section, with outwardly-extending flanges, by means ofwhich attachment is made with the sides and sill of the car, thecross-section of the envelop or body portion of said stake beingsubstantially square or rectangular, with slightly-rounded corners andwith integral iianges projecting from the sides thereof.l

This exterior stake or envelop serves to stiften and maintain the carsides in position and at the same time retains the extensible portionboth in its lowered and in its extended positions. Means are alsoprovided for securing the extended portion of the stake at variousheights.

Having thus given a general description of my invention, I will now inorder to make the matter more clearrefer to the annexed sheet ofdrawings, which forms part of this specification, and in which likecharacters refer to like parts. Y'

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of a wooden gondola car,showing my improved stake in its lowered position, the dotted linesindicating its location when raised to full height. Fig. 2 is a verticalcross-section through the side of a car, showing my stake in sideelevation, the extensible portion in this figure being also shown in itslowered position and the full height indicated by dotted lines. on theline'III III of Fig. 1.

Referring now to the various characters of reference on the drawings, 1is the exterior portion or envelop of my stake, which is composed of ahollow trough-shaped section with integral side flanges projectingtherefrom, which is secured to the car-sill 11, as shown, by means ofbolts 8 8 passing through the flanges 3 thereof, and the sides of thecar 12 12 are secured to said stake by the bolts 9 9, which pass throughthe upper portion' of the iianges 3, as indicated.

4 is a bolt which is passed through one of the holes 6 6 in the sides 2of the troughshaped stake and through one of the corresponding holes 7 7in theadjustable stake 10 for the purpose of securing the latter invarious positions as desired, while 5 is a cotter for holding said boltin place in order to prevent its loss.

It will thus be seenl that my improved stake combines a iixed stake oftrough section attached to the car-sill and supporting the car sides anda'movable stake slidably mounted therein which in its extended positionwill serve to retain higher and bulky ladings. When the movable portionof my stake is in its lowered position, it also serves to strengthen orreinforce the hollow or trough-shaped portion, thus making it of extrastrength.

Although I have shown, illustrated, and

described my invention in connection with a wooden gondola car, -I wish1t understood.

that it is equally applicable to metal cars, the only change, requiredbeing in the length and arrangement of the fastening bolts or rivets.

I make the exterior portion or envelop of my car-stake of trough-shapedsection open on one side, as this is a particularly strong form and onethat is capable of being rolled of iron or steel or pressed from asingle plate or sheet of metal.

Although I have shown and described my improvements in considerabledetail, I do not wish to be limited to the exact and spe- Fig. 3 is ahorizontal cross-section IIO Vmeans for securing the car side theretothrough the ianges aforesaid, an adjustable stake of substantiallyrectangular cross-section mounted within the opening of thetrough-shaped stake aforesaid and means for securing said adjustablestake in Various positions therein, as desired.

2. An adjustable car-stake comprising a metallic trough-shaped sectionwith substantially parallel sides having integral {ianges projectingtherefrom, means for securing f same to the car through the flangesaforesaid,

an adjustable stake of substantially rectangular cross-section slidablymounted within the opening of the trough-shaped stake aforesaid, holesin the side of said trough-shaped stake and corresponding holes in thebody portion of the adjustable stake adapted to register with the saidholes in the troughshaped stake, a bolt adapted to pass through saidregistering holes whereby the adjustable stake may be held in variouspositions as desired.

In testimony whereof I hereto aHiX my signature in the presence of twowitnesses.

RALPH V. SAGE.

Witnesses:

CYRUs E. BROWN, ELMER SEAVEY.

